Sam Cooper (ZombiDrome)

After the success of Smiles of a Summer Night Bergman went on to make his masterpiece, The Seventh Seal. This is the film that put Bergman, and the excellent actor Max von Sydow, on the map and launched them to critical success. After ten long and tiresome years, a knight and his squire come home from the Crusades, only to find their homeland ravished by the deadly Black Plague. Our knight begins to question himself and his surroundings, and the relevance (if any) that God plays in his life. To bide his time he plays a metaphorical game of chess with Death, and with this time he travels across the land in search for an answer, or any sort of meaning in general. The film starts and closes with a quote from the Book of Revelations about the seventh seal, which is essentially the end of the world. During his travels he comes across depraved religious fanatics and a witch burning, which only makes him wonder how God, who is kind-hearted and loving, can let this happen to his creation. It's only when he stumbles upon a traveling troupe that he starts to fully realize the meaning of life: that of wild strawberries and milk, of spending every day with a loved one, and caring for your young. It's only when this happens that he truly does smile and laugh during his chess game, which only confuses Death to no end. The Seventh Seal is one of my favorite films of all time for many reasons. This film also contains some of the most iconic imagery in the history of cinema: A bird soaring through the clouds, Death standing before our knight with his arm outstretched, and even the infamous, "dance of the dead," a long line lead by death which features our characters, all joined by the hand, dancing their way to the afterlife, or whatever may lay out there. Iconic and Intelligent.

An epic story that explores the assassination of Jesse James. Robert Ford desperately tries to get on James' good side, but to no prevalence. Only after he kills Jesse's cousin (Jesse not knowing, of course) does he finally, truly get Jesse's good blessings. And the he kills him.

There are so many reasons why this movie is amazing. First of, the cinematography by Roger Deakins is absolutely fantastic, and that trick he does where only the center of the screen is in focus while the outsides are blurred gets me every time. Dominik got to edit his own cut of the film, but since he didn't sign on for final cut it was unfortunately trimmed down to the version we see today. It's a shame, because I would have loved to have seen the four-hour long edit he had.

The movie also explores the darker side of idolization. Robert Ford looks up to Jesse, to the point where in one scene he walks around his house and even lays in his bed. It's only when Robert gets to know him that he begins to be disappointed. There is a fine line between history and legend that is crossed by the nickel-books that were being peddled to people in those days.

The ending (SPOILERS!), or rather the actual assassination may have left people wondering why Jesse ditched his guns in the kitchen and decided to fix his picture frame. Some may think that he was thinking of his family, but as my friend pointed out, there are a few instances scattered throughout the film where we can see Jesse as almost suicidal (when he was crouching on the ice and started to fire at it, the conversation about death he has). This adds another dimension to this scene.

And then there's Robert Ford, the coward (as the title points out). I had mixed feelings about him throughout the film. At first I pitied him, as he was just a young boy of nineteen who just wanted to be like his hero, but soon those feelings turned to distaste. And then surprise (when he shot Jesse's cousin). And then distaste (when he actually shot Jesse). One can feel this as he tries to capitalize on this success, by going as far as even staging a play. However, at the very end, he himself is assassinated. Sure we saw this coming, but it's the narration that really gives this scene its power, as we hear him saying things along the lines of, "No one will name their child after him. There will be no eulogy in the paper for him. No one will go to his funeral." I couldn't help but feel really sad for the poor kid. To each his own, I guess.